Under Review: ‘Saw VI’

— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI —

Halloween is the time for cheap masks and discounted candy, but it’s also the time for another installment to “Saw.” Just like Jason and Krueger, Jigsaw is living the high life, but on the downside, just like Jason and Krueger, each installment gets significantly more and more atrocious.

“Saw VI” continues to tread upon the series’ increasingly convoluted plotline, but to make it simple, Detective Hoffman, played by Costas Mandylor, must continue John Kramer/Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) sick philosophy of “punishing those who inflict harm to others.”
Meanwhile, the FBI starts putting together the pieces and slowly uncovers the connection to Hoffman and the murderous games. Though the plot is bloated, that is not the film’s greatest fault. It’s actually the characters.

The characters in the film are nothing more then meat puppets. They serve no purpose but to cater to the barbaric tastes of diehard fans that have put up with six consecutive years of films. What’s worse is that there is no protagonist. There is nobody to root for. The characters are all anti-heroes, whose sick ideals make them despicable. This makes the film’s unnecessary plot-twists even more dispensable.

Performances are bad throughout the film. It comes to a point where the human characters are absolutely undistinguishable from the Jigsaw puppet; both express no emotion. Costas Mandylor is by far the worst. He never strays from his straight-faced demeanor and he just emits the feeling that he got into acting not because of passion but because of the pay-wages. Everyone in the cast is to blame though, from Tobin Bell to Mark Rolston.

Technical issues are yet another flaw that this sequel doesn’t address. Lighting is once again bad and the editing seems like it could be a Youtube video.

However, the gore — being the series’ trademark — is realistic. Fans should be once again pleased to see the dull characters “hit the bucket” in a number of hilariously implausible ways. Where does John Kramer get all the money to build these complex traps anyway?

In conclusion, “Saw VI” is a travesty to modern day horror. It offers no thrills, and ultimately no satisfaction. Though first-time director Kevin Greutert tries to make something out of it, character development, editing, and most importantly acting must be addressed for the series to finally succeed, but until then, it’s better to leave “Saw VI” to those who adore the series for what it is, an unintelligent gore-fest.